1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of electrical connectors. More particularly, the invention pertains to terminal binding posts commonly associated with consumer and professional audio/visual electronic equipment for selectively mounting a variety of connectors such as stripped wire, fork connectors and banana plugs to the electronic equipment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Professional and consumer electronics systems make use of a large variety of separate components. Pieces of equipment may include speakers, amplifiers, tuners, tape decks, compact disk players, receivers, equalizers, video cassette recorders and the like. Each piece of equipment will have to be electrically connected to at least one other piece of equipment. Most of the commonly available pieces of equipment have at least one pair of terminal binding posts for making the electrical connection to at least one of the other pieces of equipment. For example, each speaker will have at least one pair of terminal binding posts for making an electrical connection to a pair of terminal binding posts carried on an amplifier. The terminal binding posts are most often arranged in pairs to make possible both positive and negative connections between two pieces of equipment.
A variety of connectors exist for connecting the wire to the terminal binding post. Electrical connections between the various pieces of equipment are usually made with a copper wire which carries an insulating sheath about its perimeter. Often, the connection to the binding posts will be made using a terminus of the wire from which the insulating sheath has been removed or stripped. In other cases, a fork connector is secured at one or both ends of the wire allowing the wire to be connected to an appropriately designed terminal binding post. In yet other cases, a banana plug is secured at a terminus of the wire to permit connections to be made to terminal binding posts designed to accept this type of connector.
The most commonly used terminal binding post consists of a metallic post having an external thread thereabout and an aperture extending laterally therethrough. An insulated knob is threadedly mounted to the binding post. The knob may be screwed down along the binding post to engage the wire or fork connector against a surface, thereby securing the wire or fork connector in place and increasing the reliability of the connection. When this type of binding post is used, a portion of the stripped end of the wire inserted through the aperture in the binding post will usually extend beyond the insulated knob leaving a portion of the wire exposed. Likewise, a fork connector will often extend beyond the insulated knob and a portion of the fork connector will be exposed.
Existing terminal binding posts often have exposed metal surfaces that are in electrical contact with the load connected through the binding post. The existing designs for terminal binding posts do not ensure that the wires and other connectors, such as fork connectors and banana plugs, do not have exposed portions when attached to the terminal binding post. The exposed portions of the terminal binding posts, as well as the exposed portions of the connectors present a significant safety risk. These exposed pieces are often directly connected to the load. They may be accidentally contacted by individuals when working around the equipment, or by children when playing or by small pets. Contact with these exposed portions can result in severe injury or even death when significant voltage or electrical potential is being carried in the circuits. International safety regulatory agencies have recognized the severity of the risk by instituting new rules governing the binding posts used on consumer electronics. These rules will require that consumer electronic equipment to carry binding posts which will not permit any contact with exposed metal portions or with the connectors secured to the binding posts.
Additionally, the exposed connectors, such as stripped wiring, can lead to inadvertent short circuiting, which at the least will degrade signal quality and may also cause severe damage to expensive electronic equipment.
There is a demonstrated need in the field of consumer electronic equipment for a terminal binding post which leaves no voltage or electric potential carrying portion of the terminal binding post exposed, and which insures that no portion of the connectors attached thereto will be exposed to accidental contact by persons, pets or other connectors.